"The best substitute for experience is being sixteen."

-Raymond Duncan

Why do adults always complain that they have such complicated lives? You know what I think? I think it's because they're the ones that overcomplicate them. Let's give an example of an average adult, and then an average teenager, and then compare the two.

Fred is a 44 year-old male working from 8-4 at his job at Aegon. He's a computer programmer. His job outside of work is to make sure the yard work's all up to par and every once in a while he likes to go to the Y to keep himself in shape. His wife stays at home to take care of their kids, nine year old Sally and 17 year old Fred Jr.

Now let's look at the life of their teenage son. Fred Jr. is a junior in high school. Being an active kid, he's got a lot on his plate. Fred goes to school every day at 5:45 in the morning and doesn't get home until about 5. He's taking 7 classes, three of which are AP and two are advanced. He's got sports going on before and after school, show choir in the winter, clubs that he participates in, and a part time job.

That, unfortunately, is not at all an unusual schedule for a kid my age. We have a full time job, like all of you adults, which is school. We've got part time after school jobs. We've got sports and other after school activities, and it's almost mandatory in our very social atmosphere that we keep up our social life. Don't forget about the relationships we've got going on. Then the six or seven teachers most of us have don't hesitate to pile our work load. Sometimes, I get at least an hour of homework per class, so I'm at home doing work from 4 to 11, pausing only to eat, and occasionally to check my Twitter and Facebook. It's not like our parents give us a break, either. We're at the time of our lives where we feel most independent, and yet, we've still got to bow down to the dictatorship in our own homes. We've got so much authority that we can't help but try to rebel. Our bosses, our teachers, our parents, and then not to mention the pressure we've got to fit in at school, are all contributing stress factors. It's hard to find a person who'll cut a teenager some slack. After all, we're in the prime of our youth and our life is so easy and later on when our brain's more devoloped and our hormones have settled down we'll see that you were right all along and blah blah blah.

No, we don't have bills to pay (except for car payments, insurance, and gas), we don't have to bring in an income (but if we don't who's going to pay for that car?), we don't have wives and husbands (except for our boyfriends and girlfriends), we don't have children to take care of (but we do have our annoying siblings who we have to watch when parents aren't home), but we're still stretched. Generally adults have more respect for their fellow colleagues at their own age, then they do for the 16 year-olds they see sometimes at the red light, windows down, and music blasting, with their passenger seats full on a Friday night.

Some may shake their heads and smile, and remember their own Friday nights 20-30 years ago. Some may narrow their eyes and look at that car full of fun and youth as a road accident waiting to happen. And then there are some, who'll look at our carefree faces and think that we have it so easy, being so young. Really, though, I think a life for a teenager is hard, we're just better at making it seem easy.

*Nancy, Fred, Fred Jr. and Jasmine are made up characters. They're not based on any family I know.